Final Fantasy IV - After the final battle: Mysidia
by jimmy.hoang13
Summary: After the second war that had raged the Blue Planet, nations had grown from the ashes once more. But Palom's trip to Mount Ordeals might change the Blue Planet and its peoples lives... forever
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Porom was furious. She walked around the Prayer Dais, thinking about what Palom was up to lately.

"Porom," asked the Elder, "What seemed to be troubling you?"

These words snapped Porom from her train of thoughts. "Nothing, Elder. Everything's all right," replied Porom. She smiled and excused herself from the room. As she walked out of the room, her face quickly knitted itself into a scowl. What was Palom up to? He always left Mysidia, heading to the east and coming back a few hours later. "What is Palom hiding?" Porom thought.

Porom walked outside to find her trainee, Leonora, practicing how to cast Reflect on other targets (In the game, Leonora could only cast Reflect on herself), which was Porom's newest lesson.

"Leonora!" Porom called.

Leonora turned her head towards Porom. "Ah, my lady. What is it, Lady Porom?"

Porom shook her head, "Remove the 'lady' bit, Leonora. Just 'Porom', please. You know well that you, me, Palom, Queen Rosa and Rydia defeated the Creator himself" (They were my party members on the True Moon). "A-all right, Porom," Leonora said with a nervous smile.

"Good. Now, have you tried to find out what Palom was doing?"

"Y-yes, my la- I mean, Porom."

But before Porom could say a single word, Palom marched outside, stopping the conversation that was secretly going on.

"Morning, girls!" Palom said cheerfully. Then he eyed Porom and Leonora suspiciously, "What have you two been up to?"

"Um, we were talking a-about Leonora's training" Porom lied.

Palom, not noticing his twin sister's confusion, continued,

"Don't you worry about that. Leonora here has the best training coach in all of Mysidia, Palom!"

"What about me?"

"Oh, you" Palom narrowed his eyes, "Porom, I'm sorry, but I have to say, you aren't a tenth as good as me."

"Ugh, Palom! Your inflated ego can fill up the Underworld!"

"Hey! My amazing skills as a black mage have saved us all. You all should bow down to me after the Creator's defeat that time," Palom bragged, hurling his assassin's dagger for everyone to see.

Palom's grin quickly turned into a scowl as Porom's arrows hit the blade from an impressive distance of ten meters.

Leonora watched the whole thing with amusement. Things became extremely funny when Porom quickly took out her Perseaus bows and arrows and, quick as a flash, aimed with extraordinary precision at the dagger. Leonora heard a 'clunk' and the side of the dagger fell on Palom's toes.

"Ow! These are brand new shoes!"

"Yeah, but enough of that," Porom said angrily, "Tell me, Palom, what have you been doing?"

It is an extremely rare sight to see a Porom with fume coming out of her. But today, the unlucky Palom gets a special honour to witness his sister turning furious.

"What, am I supposed to report every detail of my life to you?" Palom snapped. He had hoped that using this old, but effective, trick, his twin sister would leave him alone. Instead, Porom looked as though she would do anything but leave him alone.

"Yes," Porom grinned. But her grin soon became a scowl. "What is he trying to hide?" she wondered. Leonora, seeing that Porom was getting nowhere interrogating Palom, decided it was her turn.

"Tell me, Palom. What were you doing, heading for that dangerous place?"

Palom was beginning to sweat, "What dangerous place?"

"Don't act innocent. Why did you head for Mount Ordeals?" Leonora asked coldly.

Palom's jaw dropped. If someone said that he/she found Tellah alive, Palom wouldn't be more surprised right now.

"H-how did you know?"

Porom jabbed him in the collarbone with her finger, "Leonora's not stupid. She must have found out that Mount Ordeals is the only location to the East of Mysidia."

"Argh! Don't do that!" Palom said, trying his very best to avoid Porom and that 'deadly' finger of hers.

"Besides," Leonora continued for Porom, "Mount Ordeals only has undead monsters. I think you have been casting Blizzards…"

"Or testing yourself with monsters." Porom finished.

"Ha ha, very funny," Palom said, "but you're right. Except, there was a…"

Palom's sentence was interrupted by screams inside the Hall of Prayer.

Notes: These characters belong to Square Enix. No copyright intended. Anyway, I will only write for FFIV because it's my favourite and I write this in the hope that Square Enix would make a direct sequel to the After Years. Constructive criticism is welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"HASTE!" cried Leonora, casting the spell on the group.

"Thank you!" Porom said and sprinted off towards the Hall of Prayer like lightning. Palom followed suit.

"W-wait for me!" Leonora called. She, too, sped off towards the Hall.

When Leonora caught up, she, along with the twins, were shocked to see hordes of undead monsters entering the Crystal Chamber. "Stay back, Leonora!" Palom shouted.

It was too quick to see, but Leonora saw Porom releasing the string. And the horde leader collapsed with an arrow on the back of his head. Meanwhile, Palom was messing with a group of other Revenants. "Is that all you've got?" Palom smirked, slashing the neck of a Revenant with his dagger, taking its head clean off. He picked up the head of the now dead Revenant and threw it at another one, sending it back 2 meters.

"3, 4, 5! How muck have you killed, Porom?" Palom called out.

"8, 9!" Porom replied, taking her 9th shot with, again, 100% accuracy, taking nine Wraiths using her arrows.

"No way!" Palom exclaimed. He turned towards another Revenant, "Take that!" A stab in the chest was all it took to kill the creature.

Leonora felt something behind her. Was that a Skeleripper?

*SLASH* Leonora heard the whoosh of a sword next to her left arm.

A shout reached Leonora's ears, "Leonora, move to your left!"

Porom's arrow hit the head of a Skeleripper behind her. Its sword was raised, ready for the killing blow, but now it could no longer do anything.

Angry at being sneakily attacked by these skeletons, Leonora put all her energy into her Master Staff. "Porom, leave it to me!" Leonora snarled, "Bring it on, cowards!"

The stupid skeletons lunged forward. Swords raised, knives clashed, but none were on target. Leonora was simply too fast for them. It was her turn now. With two swings, she easily killed them all. White bones lay scattered everywhere, even on the table. Turning her head, she said, "Porom, slow them down!"

"SLOW!" Immediately, the whole horde was slowed down. Things had now become very easy.

10 minutes later...

The battle was over. Dead bodies were scattered around the room. Lots of them were already starting to smell. Porom and Leonora, instinctively, held their noses. "Eww! Gross!" they exclaimed.

"Women," Palom muttered, suppressing a laugh.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Porom raised her hand, threatening a slap on Palom's head.

Again, Palom had enough experience for a lifetime: Run away! He did so, dashing up the stairs with the speed of 100km/h when Porom took a step forward.

Leonora shook her head, "I've never seen this drama for a long time."

Porom was slightly taken aback, "How did you know? Did Palom tell you?"

"No, I was the girl all those years ago."

Porom took the hint, "So he flirted with you every day? No wonder he was always late for his lessons!"

Leonora turned beet red, "I-I wouldn't exactly c-call that flirting."

"Yeah, true. I think he usually brags. That is the Palom we know."

11111111

Palom was shocked to see the Elder on the ground, unconscious. "Elder! Wake up, Elder!" Palom shouted. Even though the Elder passed his title onto the twins, people still call him the Elder, which was fine with Palom and Porom, as they weren't ready for such major responsibility. At the same time, he was wondering what could've knocked the Elder out.

A blue creature with one round eye, deadly-looking fangs and a short, blue pair of wings like a chocobo's flew out as though answering Palom's question. Outraged, Palom aimed at the creature, "BIO!" The creature was attacked by the spell. It was getting weaker and weaker. After 15 minutes, the creature would be dead. Knowing this, Palom moved in to shield the Elder from further attacks.

Porom dashed into the room. She, too, was shocked and furious when she saw the Elder on the ground. One look at the creature told Porom everything. "HOLY!" she screamed. There was a flash of light, and Palom saw its body on the ground. Kicking its body away in disgust, Porom quickly went by the Elder's side. "RAISE!"

"W-where am I?" the Elder asked. Leonora, who just came up form tidying up the Hall, casted Libra on the Elder, "He is still very weak, Porom."

"Thank you, Leonora." Porom said. She and two other Black Mages who just arrived carried the Elder to the Infirmary, where he could rest.

As soon as Porom left, Leonora looked at Palom," Surely, Palom, something drove them here. But what could it be?" Palom said nothing. In fact, he didn't even listen to Leonora's question. His gaze was fixed on his fisted hands. Palom quickly put his hands back in his pockets, but it was too late. One glimpse told Leonora that Palom was holding something in his hands.

"What is it, Palom?" Leonora asked.

"Nothing!" Palom lied unconvincingly.

"Is that so?" Porom's whisper from behind startled Palom. His back was towards Porom, so he didn't notice her coming in. Palom spun around, desperately casting Blizzard at Porom's mouth to keep her quiet. But he had underestimated Porom. She quickly moved out of harm's way. "Good try, Palom, but there's no point," Porom said pointedly.

"Just show us what it is. Please, Palom!" Leonora pleaded. With a sigh, Palom reluctantly opened his hands.

11111111

Porom and Leonora gasped in surprised. What they saw was an amulet that was slightly smaller than a human palm, but big for an amulet. The amulet was a dull grey, with five perfectly round dents, possibly space for beads. They are placed in a circle. In the centre was a star-shaped dent.

"Oh, don't look at me like that." Palom said, exasperated, "How was I meant to know that this amulet was what the undead armies were looking for?"

"WHAT?" Porom yelled, "SO THEY CAME HERE BECAUSE OF YOU?"

"Well, yeah, didn't you know that?" Palom said, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"YOU COULD HAVE KILLED US ALL!"

"Pfff. Definitely," Palom snorted, despite knowing that this was one of those rare occasions that his sister completely lost her temper because of his carelessness. He felt like he was standing next to a dragon breathing fumes rather than Porom. Even then, no one would believe that this is the calm, polite and intelligent Porom they thought they knew.

Porom's face was turning red from all the yelling. "She really looks like a lion being poked in the nostrils," Palom chuckled. But he wished he didn't look back, as he had to struggle to stop his laughter coming out. As all Final Fantasy IV gamers and I know that a pink-haired women's face when her face turns red looks very peculiar. Unfortunately, Palom's shoulders betrayed him.

"What's so funny?" Porom said, her voice dangerously soft.

Sensing danger, Palom backed off, "Nothing!" Palom said hastily, putting his hands behind his head, acting cool.

*SMACK*

"Ow!"

"Get rid of that amulet, Palom," Porom hissed furiously.

"No! You're not my mother!"

Porom had enough, "Haste!"

Before Palom could react, the amulet was in Porom's hand. Palom wished he didn't look at his twin's face right now. There was only a limited number of smug faces he would've wanted to see in his life. Over to his left, unnoticed, Leonora was laughing so hard, as she had never seen Palom being 'tormented' by Porom mercilessly in such a funny way. Only, her laughter stopped when Porom opened her mouth,

"Tomorrow, we'll head back to Mount Ordeals. Got that, Palom?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_Notes: No copyright intended. These characters and locations belong to Square Enix, otherwise I've created ten more sequels of FFIV, literally! _

In the Hall…

"Thank you, Palom, Porom and Leonora," the Elder said, "Thank you."  
Even though Leonora had gained a lot of confidence, she's still got a very long way to go, "B-but Elder, I-I didn't help much at all," she stammered.

"Ridiculous, Leonora, "the Elder waved her words aside, "You had helped us far more than you think. You helped Porom taken care of me, and especially…" Palom turned away. "…found out what Palom was hiding, even though I still don't know what that is." At these words, the Elder gave a look at Palom. Palom felt like a kid reprimanded by a teacher for not taking naps, which is one of the most ridiculous things he had ever heard. He shrugged, "Look, I had defeated the Creator, so couldn't I just have a bit of freedom here?"

"Palom!" Porom scolded.

"Come on," Palom said, again, ignoring his sister completely, "We need to go to Mount Ordeals!"

"No, Palom!" the Elder exclaimed, "You certainly are **not** going back there and inviting another horde of the undead to return here! I forbid you!"

"But we must…" Palom said, telling the Elder everything. The Elder looked solemn. "Give me the Amulet, Palom.

Palom hesitated, and reluctantly handed the Amulet to the Elder's waiting hand. He felt like giving something precious away. To his surprise, the Elder gave the Amulet back. "This is an Amulet which holds great power. At all cost, do not let it fall into the wrong hands."

"Yes, Elder!" Palom nodded, being polite for the first time in years.

"Good. And good luck. You'll need it, especially Palom."

11111111

"RRIIINNNGG!"

"STUPID PIECE OF SHIT!" Palom yelled, throwing the poor alarm clock across the room, effectively silencing it. Palom looked out of the window. The sky was still pitch black. Palom groaned, put the blankets over him and threw his sock at the door to prevent 'intruders'.

Porom and Leonora were waiting downstairs, "Why hasn't Palom woken up yet? I had clearly remembered putting an alarm clock in his room," Leonora muttered.

"Knowing Palom, he would have thrown the alarm clock in the bin long ago. I'll go upstairs to check on him. You wait here."

Leonora agreed. Porom went upstairs, walked to where she, Palom and Leonora slept on bunk beds. She opened the door, only to be greeted by the most disgusting of all the disgusting smells she had ever smelt in her life.

"Ew! Men are so disgusting!" Covering her nose, Porom threw his revolting sock he threw earlier out of the window. She then saw the shattered remains of the beloved alarm clock. "Palom! Wake up! Right this moment!"

Palom jumped 15 feet into the air, a feat that even the best high-jumping athletes would be green with jealousy. "Who is it?" he shouted, devoid of sleepiness. When Palom's dark-blue eyes caught sight of Porom, all sleepiness returned to him like a boomerang, "Go away! Let me sleep!" he groaned into his pillow.

"No. It's your fault that you didn't listen to me to go to bed early last night." Porom retorted mercilessly, her hands on her hips.

"Who _**cares**__! _Go away!" Palom said, his muffled voice coming out of the thick blanket.

"Blizzard!" Porom said. The blanket began to turn into ice, travelling upwards from Palom's foot. Palom gave a yelp as his feet were icicles, jumped out and grabbed his blue coat and ran out of the room. Porom pumped the air with her fist in triumph. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Palom was staring at her in a way that told her he would have loved dearly to turn her into an ugly purple toad. "**Gods **damn you, Porom!" Palom said, his teeth gritted in anger.

"Whatever, mate. We're going now." At these words, Porom walked out, followed by Leonora. Palom reluctantly dragged himself along, grumbling about his loss of sleep.

At one point, they were approached by a gang of red-hooded Bandits. A Bandit with a short height came forward. Palom assumed he was probably the leader of the Bandit Gang. The leader's rough voice came out of the hood, "Surrender your weapons," he rasped, "And give us your money, as you are three of the five great warriors that defeated the Creator…"

Porom was bristling with irritation. This imbecile of a bandit was getting on her nerves. No one had ever tried to rob her, yet this one had the nerves to do so. "Why would we give our money to you? You are as tiny as a six-year-old, so I don't think you should do anything rash."

But before the Bandit Leader could reply to this, a voice interrupted him instead, trying to mimic him. It turned out to be Palom's, who was, too, irritated with them.

"Excuse me, I'm six and a half!" he snapped in a high-pitched kiddy voice.

While Porom and Leonora were howling with laughter, the Leader was trembling with fury. "You shall pay for your insolence!" the Bandit Leader roared and lunged at them. The other Bandits saw that and they too lunged at the trio.

Palom sent a Fira spell at them, blasting them off within a radius of fifteen metres. To distract them all, Porom shot a volley of arrows into the air. The Bandits roared with laughter, "Is that how you shoot?" a bandit looked at Porom, sneering at her with contempt.

Porom gave him a small and mysterious smile, "Wait and see."

Before the sneering Bandit could register what was going on, the volley of arrows dipped, and were heading for them. The Bandit next to him gave a yell of "Watch out!" but it was too late. The arrow went into his skull and stayed in there as he collapsed on the ground, dead. Unfortunately for the Bandits, he wasn't the only one; about half the whole gang was killed by the arrows. No arrows had missed.

Palom turned towards Leonora, "I'll focus my magic into destroying them. You know what to do." he said, closing her eyes. Leonora furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but she understood when a Bandit sprinted at Palom. Quick as a flash, Leonora's staff whacked on his face, knocking him out. She stood there, fending off every single Bandit that ran at Palom, while Porom slowed them down.

About half a minute later, Palom opened his eyes,

"Here goes… Meteor!"

Porom was shocked, "No!" but she was too late now. The spell had been casted. Half a dozen rocks flew at the losing Bandits, followed by a huge one about 10 times the size to finish them off. Porom covered her eyes, expecting the worst to happen as tears began to fill up her eyes. When her eyes managed to slowly open, Palom was right next to her, teasing, "Open your eyes, sis! I'm _**the **_greatest Black Mage of all times, so I don't think anything might've happened to me."

Porom was speechless. She never knew how powerful Palom had grown. Now, he was stronger than Tellah himself in the area of Black Magic, while she was stronger than Tellah in the area of White Magic. Casting Meteor, alone, was a great feat itself. "That was amazing!" she finally said, beaming at Palom, "You are now, indeed, stronger than Tellah!"

"Exactly. Let's move on, shall we?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Palom couldn't sleep. Thoughts in his head had kept him awake. Looking to his left, Leonora and Porom were asleep after a tiring day. A fire had been lit to keep enemies away, since they were camping on Mount Ordeals.

Palom sighed and stood up. He walked towards the edge of the mountain, thinking for an answer to all his questions.

What he didn't know was that another pair of eyes had been watching him.

11111111

"Palom?" whispered a voice next to him.

Palom spun around, finding his apprentice looking at him, devoid of sleepiness. She looked stunning and the moonlight tonight seemed to enhance that beauty in front of him.

"Palom," she said softly, "Go back to sleep."

Thousands of questions were still in Palom's head that he wanted to ask her, but he chose a question that wasn't really helpful, "What about you?" he said, then cursed his poor selection of all the questions he could have asked her instead.

Leonora approached and brushed Palom's messy, uncombed brown hair out of his face.

"I had. But you hadn't. That worries me, Palom."

"But..."

"Please, Palom, go back to sleep." she repeated softly, a slight hint of pleading in her voice. Leonora wasn't stubborn like Porom, but she might actually be sick with worry if Palom got ill or knocked out by the monsters tomorrow morning due to sleepiness.

"Alright," Palom said, giving Leonora a reassuring smile and stood up. Leonora walked to him, stood on her toes and planted him a kiss right on his lips. Palom stood there, dazed.

"Goodnight, Palom," she said, giving a yawn and walked back.

Palom looked as though he might have died with happiness right on the spot. A smile slowly spread across his lips, knowing one of his questions had been answered.

Maybe it wasn't such a dumb question after all.

11111111

Palom was still sleeping. Snores came out of his mouth loudly and rhythmically like an amplified ostinato. In fact, that was the reason why Porom woke up so early. Those snores to her felt as though ants had made nests in her ears, which meant a very irritated Porom had woken up at 5:30 in the morning and practised her magic and archery skills outside the mouth of the cave.

Three hours later, a cheerful Porom came inside to be greeted by a still amplified-ostinato-sleeping Palom.

"Palom! Wake up, Palom!"

Palom had indeed woken up, but instead of getting out of the sleeping bag, he muttered something inaudible and responded to Porom by turning his back towards her, continuing to sleep. Porom knew that if she continued at this rate, they'd have no hope at all leaving the area today.

Porom took out Leonora's Rune Staff, pointed it at Palom, and said, "Haste"

After she repeated the spell several times, Palom stirred and yawned, "What a great dream last night," he hadn't noticed Porom could hear him.

"Oh? What was it about?" Porom said.

"Uh...nothing," Palom said, his face turning slightly pink, hiding his embarrassment.

Being the smart person she was, Porom realised that Palom was embarrassed about something. She had only seen Palom embarrassed once on the True Moon, and the only thing that made him embarrassed was about Leonora and him. At that thought, Porom's face turned into an evil smile. She clicked her fingers,

"It's you and Leonora, isn't it?"

Palom looked as though Porom's Perseus's Arrows had soared past him. He managed to utter, "H-how did you…"

"I'm not a mind reader," Porom smiled, "Your behaviour has betrayed you."

"Whatever," Palom swatted his hand as though swatting flies, although there weren't any flies in here, "Have you seen Leonora?"

"She's outside, practising Quake" said Porom, pointing outside, slightly to the left of Palom. Indeed, a few hundred metres away from them, Leonora was busy casting the spell at a dummy. She would occasionally successfully cast it, but when she didn't she would always try again, despite knowing that using too much magic would tire her out. She only aimed for the best.

Palom was delighted to have an apprentice like Leonora. Smart, patient, quiet, determined, gentle, caring, talented, courageous, loyal, attractive… who could ever hope for a better apprentice?

Wait, attractive? How in the world did that thought ever entered his mind?

Porom, as Palom's twin sister, could easily and accurately have a go at what he was thinking. "Very determined and tolerant of you, Leonora. After all, you had been the person who he flirted with all those years ago," she said airily.

Palom was stunned, "How much more do you know?" he croaked. The Black Mage of Mysidia felt as though the oxygen level in the air had decreased drastically because he looked like he was about to faint.

His twin gave him a smug look, "More than you know…"

11111111

_Today was a normal day like any other normal days. The Prayer Dais, however, was different. There was no one there. Practically every mage in Mysidia was away for the training in Baron._

_The reason that the word 'practically' was used was because there were a few mages left in Mysidia. _

_One of the mages slowly walked into the Prayer Dais. She was Porom, the White Mage of Mysidia. _

_From the top of the Prayer Dais, she could see the final mages walking on the dirt road which stretched miles and miles that led them out of the country of Mages and towards the Western Coast. Then, her sharp eyes caught sight of Palom and Leonora on the dirt road. But Palom, instead of going with the group of Black Mages, turned left and headed towards the notorious Devil's Road._

_No, Palom. You're not using that road, she thought. Porom knew that she couldn't run that fast nor shout that loud, so she focused her magic, preparing to teleport him away. There was a 50/50 chance of successfully teleporting him away, as he could easily evade the spell if he sensed even the tiniest fraction of her magic. _

_Then, very suddenly, an idea popped up in her head. Porom took an old piece of parchment and hastily scribbled her note. The piece of parchment was then tied with a string to the arrow._

_Porom released the string. The arrow landed on the ground next to Palom's feet._

"_Who's that?" he exclaimed, his eyes looking at the source where the arrow came from. Then, he understood that the only person who equipped bows and arrows in Mysidia was the person who had teleported in front of him._

"_Porom," he nodded curtly, annoyed, "I need to use the Devil's Road."_

_The answer that came out of Porom's mouth was firm, "Absolutely not." Palom's twin said, shaking her head._

"_Hmph." Palom crossed his arms and poked his tongue out as Porom cuffed him on the head._

_Leonora, who was silent the whole time, covered her mouth with her hands, "Hee hee!"_

_11111111_

"So you're telling me you could tell who someone is from a giggle?" Palom asked skeptically.

"I never said anything of the sort, but Leonora reminded me so much of that girl."

At that point, Leonora walked towards the twins, unnoticed. "What are you two talking about?" asked a curious Leonora.

"Don't worry about it," reassured Palom, "It's not really anything bad."

Although Palom had told Leonora there was nothing to worry about, there was something the party would be more than worried when they moved up another 50 metres.

"I am Palom," rasped the person in front of them, "The real Palom. And you all shall die under my Death spell!"

**Sorry I haven't updated for so long as my computer had died. By the way, this is my first fanfic on any website so don't be too harsh on me if it's horrible (which I think it is).**


End file.
